Warhammer 40,000: Knights of Steel
by Alssadar
Summary: Fleeing from a crushing defeat at the hands of chaos, the Knights of Steel seek to return to their home of Holvir and recover their losses. The forces of chaos, however, have a different plan in store for the Knights, casting the skeins of fate, as Brother-Sergeant Kadotus struggles to fight against the forces that follow in his wake.
1. Chapter 1

Warhammer 40,000:Knights of Steel

By Alssadar

Chapter 1

Kadotus swore as he gazed upon Lavot se Povleče, no longer able to see the world as the atmosphere was replaced with ash. He was bald, and his face was tight—gathered from decades of snarling and holding glares. His battle-brothers, Ocydo, Masoi, and Dawir, the only remaining members of Kadotus squad, stood behind him in silence, their gaze focused upon the lost world. The sight alone would damn and cripple the mind of a weaker man, but Kadotus and his brothers were not men—they were Space Marines, Adeptus Astartes. Standing two meters tall and bearing heavy armor a normal man could not bear the weight of, they were the most noble and proud warriors of the Imperium, and the devoted sons of the God-Emperor of Mankind—and this day, they had failed. For the planet below them burned with daemonic fire, and the lone sun of the system was dying off, providing the only source of light into the small dark chamber, glinting of the steel and crimson colored armor of the marines.

"We never should have left it." Kadotus snarled, his power-fist tightening in his left hand, activating the weapon and emitting sparks of energy. "We swore our oath to protect it, or die trying!" He turned around to his brothers, who stood and let their sergeant release his anger. "Are we oath breakers, brother? Are we, His blessed Astartes, weak to renounce our word for our lives?" He spat into Ocydo's face, the brother's face betraying no emotion.

Kadotus turned to face Masoi and Dawir, and cornered them. "Well, brothers? What are we, if not traitors and heretics—fools who deny their oath to save their skin, who put themselves before the lives of the Imperium?" The two gave no response, continuing their solid gaze to the burning planet in the view port.

Kadotus walked back to the view port, settling the power fist on the thick glass in front of him. He said nothing, and kneeled down, head bowed in solitude and his fist scraping the thick metal plates of the ship's flooring. In his silent prayer, his brothers joined him, and they all assumed the same prayer.

"O Almighty Emperor, guardian and protector of mankind, holy leader and perfection beyond his subjects. For You, we serve and in Your image we were born, to fight Your enemies and protect Your servants. Upon this day, I take my pledge, to serve Your cause, to serve without rest or laxity, until my quest is done. I shall stay the foe and give my life if it is needed. There shall be no failure or retreat in my path, the only end in victory or death. In Your name, almighty Emperor, I serve and live, and I shall never derive from the path. For the sons of Dorn will never falter and stand as Your strongest sons, and shall rest only upon completion of Your most holy goal. Ave Imperator and glory to Him on Earth."

The oath passed silently, as the prayer no longer held its calming presence over the marines and Kadotus found his anger rising once more. He punched his power fist into the steel girders beneath him, rising up to pull a redundant set of wires from the insides of the ship. Standing up and tossing the wires away, Kadotus sneered and turned back to his brothers.

"My brothers, return to your quarters and meet me in the chapel after bolter training. We must remain true and not resort to anger, lest our judgment be clouded with our fury. I shall meet with the captain to discuss our plans for the future, and relay them to you after our gathering." Kadotus spoke as he walked past his praying brothers, settling a hand on a panel to open the door, allowing a thin filter of translucent light to flow into the chamber, a further glint on the backs of the kneeling brothers. Kadotus nodded as his brothers spared no response, engaged in their prayer, yet the sergeant knew they understood him. He felt his anger ebb as he watched his pure brothers in the act, before finally turning away, his mind preparing for whatever he would encounter in his conversation with the captain.

* * *

The captain was garbed in armor similar to Kadotus, only it was more decorated with honors and held less battle damage. A wide cape was hung like a sash around his chest, bearing multiple shining metals of Imperial honors. Contrary to the honorific garb, the captain's face was worn—large scars crossing his brow, and the captain's jaw and mouth were replaced with an augmented rebreather, making the captain's voice a heavy rasp.

Nage and Kadotus stood in the bridge of the _Blade of Alacrity_, a large, lined platform above lines of dozens of naval servitors, slaves enthralled to their position. They were centered around a command map, its data screen bearing the loss of Lavot se Povleče, information streaming across as the heretic's numbers increased and the Imperial numbers decreased.

"Our company was lost, sergeant, any fool could notice." Captain Nage glared down over his augments.

"We swore our oath, captain." Kadotus returned, stepping towards the captain. "And are we not the sons of Dorn? We fight until we can no longer!"

Nage made a sound the Kadotus knew as a scoff. "We have 4 initiates from the 30 we brought. Only you and Itan remain of our tactical squads, with 6 brothers in total. Our devastators are lost and Kinnar is the only last member of our assault brothers." He looked down at the numbers surrounding the table. "They've reinforcements en route, and we can aid them no further."

"Do the Fists balk at the chance of defeat?" Kadotus questioned, stepping around the table to face the captain.

"We are not the stubborn Imperial Fists, sergeant. And we do not have the strength to make a significant difference." The captain pointed a red studded finger at the map, pointing at the Imperial numbers in the capital city. "At this moment, our entire company would have been dead, with no apothecaries to recover our gene seed, and heretics to burn our corpses. Our lives would have been wasted in vain for a population we couldn't protect—lives that had already sworn themselves to chaos, and waiting for victory to prove it. The Lion Warriors have unfortunately lost their allies, and there is no longer anything we can do to assist them"

Kadotus stopped a curse from leaving his lips. He knew the captain was right, and the tactical decision was sound—the gene seed was recovered from the fallen brothers, which would allow future initiates to become Astartes, allowing the Knights of Steel Chapter to survive and recover its fallen numbers. But, nonetheless, Kadotus and the rest of the company had sworn their oath to protect Lavot se Povleče, to never leave its defense, and see it in victory or death.

"And what of our oath, captain? Are we to banished and renegade in our shame?" Kadotus asked, raising his eyes from the map.

Nage turned his eyes to the view port of the planet slowly fading into the distance. "We shall see when we return to the chapter. I will most likely receive the mark of shame and have many titles removed, my history damaged in the chapter records. I may be removed from my command position for breaking my oath, but the Chapter Master Furisio will know my decision was in the right." A slight metallic sigh was muttered afterwards, the captain under the weight of his decision.

Kadotus could find nothing to challenge, and moved next to his captain and followed his glare into space. He knew the captain was a good man, leading the 2nd company to victory time and time again. There was no need for the moment to poison the brotherhood they shared. "The skeins of fate are forever changeable, captain."

"Aye. On my home planet, we had seers who could foresee the future. As a youth I believed their falsehoods, and never tried to deny their lies." The captain said without looking at the sergeant, a metallic rasp clunky amidst the servitors' typing.

"And what did they lie to you about?" Kadotus asked.

"Everything. They told me I would forever be a disappointment to my parents, that I would die forgotten and my soul would be forever damned in the Emperor's sight." He gazed around him. "But I proved them wrong." If Kadotus could see the captain's mouth, he would have guessed it was turned back into a slight smile.

"And what of the seers' fate?" Kadotus asked, already guessing the result.

A metallic snort came from the captain. "I crushed them beneath my boot." He gazed back out at the space of Lavot se Povleče, and then back at the map. "Return to your brothers and gather in the chapel. We are to pass into warp jump within the hour. I plan on having the Knights return to this world after we bear the news—my fate is still uncertain."

Kadotus nodded. "Yes, my captain." He left the bridge, leaving Nage to his solitude amongst the mind-wiped slaves around him, silently gazing off at the burning planet he left to its fate.


	2. Chapter 2

Warhammer 40,000: Knights of Steel

By Alssadar

Chapter 2

Kadotus opened his eyes, and the fire was all around him. The corpses of his brothers were scattered in the rubble, two apothecarial servitors rushing about the bodies and obtaining the gene seed whilst their master fought, and most likely died. Kadotus glared around his surroundings, a large crater, definitely the bombardment of a chaos defiler. A few of his brothers stood, returning back to the collapsed breach in the wall, bolter fire released in full automatic, rather silent in comparison to the roaring cries of the cultists.

Releasing a cry of his own, Kadotus pursued towards his fellow Astartes in the gap, his bolt pistol erupting in short bursts into the massive crowd of fanatical humans who turned away from the Emperor. He jumped the last stretch to slam his power fist into the nearest body, further pushing the corpse to collide with half a dozen of his fellows. But Kadotus could have no rest in the matter, flinging himself further into the melee, his fist and pistol striking out in the dual components of death.

"Brother-sergeant, traitor marines are in the horde! Raiders!" Masoi warned, the vox buzzing in Kadotus' ear.

"We must hold the breach or the city will fall, brother. We said our oath, and we shall stay." The sergeant replied as he crushed a man's head in his fist. "I want designated bolt fire on the traitors, and put them down before they can get any closer. The small fry can wait their turn." Kadotus ordered, letting a heretic's las-gun glance his armor before creating a large hole in the man's chest.

And suddenly, he was in an opening. The breach was still lined with enemy corpses, but the cultists had back away from him, not one daring to sacrifice themselves. "I'm getting the traitors to distance from the breach—what do you see, brothers?" He asked into the bead lining his chin, his pistol up and firing into the mass that slowly distanced itself from him.

"There are no vehicles in the mass, and brother-sergeant Kinnar is removing the artillery." Ocydo noted, "I suspect daemons or witchcraft."

Kadotus dropped the extended clip from his bolt-pistol and let the mag-lock on his waist retrieve another to the gun. "Stay on the lookout, and watch for any other activity." As he raised up the pistol, another voice began talking in his ear.

The rasping voice of Nage spoke up. "Sergeant—how is the mob on your end?"

"Holding back, captain. They're not retreating, but they stay in their purpose—rifles and pistols—no melee." Kadotus replied, ducking into the walls of the breach as he noticed a heretic with a plasma gun.

"They're doing the same near the gates—we don't know either. Traitor marines have been sighted in the masses, but no direct contact." The captain informed, the dull barks of boltguns in the background of his speech.

"My brothers have informed me of the same reports. Have you checked with Itan, Phorn, and Vann?" Kadotus asked as a stream of superheated energy flew past him. He leaned out of his cover and lined up a shot on the traitor.

Suddenly, a massive explosion roared from nearby, sending large chunks of buildings flying and the cultists to the ground. "What the—?" Kadotus questioned as he gazed around, his peripherals catching something.

In the orbit above the planet shone a large ship, of dull brown and gray, its bow ablaze with cannonfire and bombardment upon the city. From his point along the wall, Kadotus noticed the top of a large mushroom cloud further down the wall. "Sir—?" He heard his brother's question. Kadotus' eyes flashed again, now as the crowd stood back up again, charging. And now, there were chaos space marines in their number.

"Fall back, brothers! Regroup to the central enclave, the walls have fallen!" Kadotus ordered, his mind brimming with anger by the chaos assault. But, he still had a job to do—he activated his vox as he started running up the broken stairs that once went to the wall. "Brother-Captain Nage, what is your status?"

The response was broken, "...western destroyed... no survivors... fall... central enclave...evacuation..." The remainder was looping, as Kadotus suspected the servitor in charge of the frequency would have issues regarding whatever massive bomb had fallen upon the city. Yet still, it was Nage's vox signal he received, yet it was not the captain who spoke...Was he dead?

Kadotus shook his head as he turned around and loosed a burst from his pistol before continuing his pursuit down the wasted streets, passing corpses and upturned bodies alike. As he ventured farther towards the central enclave, he noticed the imprints of his brother's boots, some were staggered and others were of full sprints.

He passed by a group of Imperial citizens, who turned to him. They instantly began pleading, begging him for their lives to be protected and the Emperor to safeguard them against the traitors. But, Kadotus kept his path. As he was a block from them, he heard the cough of a gun and saw a round hit the road some couple meters away from him. In response, he turned around for a second and let loose a burst from his bolt pistol, before turning the corner and glaring at the walls of the central enclave that stood behind the ruined structures around him.

Crashing through a fence, the sergeant moved through the rubble field as he heard a thunderous scream from above, and heard the sharp crack of lightning. For the first instant, it was a drop-pod, producing a group of chaos space marines, their boltguns readied and aimed in his direction. Diving into a ditch, Kadotus shot three rounds at the traitors, and tightened his fist to revive the energy in his power fist. As the first marine approached the ditch, he jumped out and struck the heretic with his fist, removing the traitor's arm and the side of his chest.

Ducking low, he avoided the shots that finished the wounded marine and rolled over to fit behind a fallen building, his back slamming against a broken picture frame that somehow managed to hold on. As Kadotus was about to take a peak from cover, the wall behind him crashed and two hands erupted from holes, which found a place around the sergeant's neck. Grasping the hands, Kadotus struggled as the lock on his helmet was released, his power fist crushing an arm before the sergeant freed himself. A snarl emerged from the other side as the large body followed the holes, a massive chain axe in hand.

Kadotus roared, raising the power fist to block the spinning teeth of the weapon, the gauntlet slowly bending as the chaos marine put his remaining force into the hand. Gazing over the weapon, Kadotus saw the marine's face, twisted and grotesque like the armor that once mirrored Kadotus'. But, no longer he had to spare the sight of the mutant—his bolt pistol blew the marine's face to a mixture of brain and skull, as Kadotus turned his head to avoid any damage to his eyes. Pushing the corpse away and pulling the chain-axe out of his gauntlet, he sulked into the shadows of the building, moving along the horizontal staircases as the chaos marines who from the drop pod came to investigate their fallen brothers, their boltguns primed for their lost target.

Muttering a prayer to the Emperor for his enemies' laxity, Kadotus continued his path before climbing his way out of the shattered roof that lay nearby the walls of the enclave. He spied many of his brothers along the wall, marshalling the remaining house guard of the city to improve their morale, and hopefully hold the line. The sergeant started moving forward as he heard the roars of chain-weapons behind him—the chaos marines in pursuit of their target. Kadotus changed into a sprint at the wall, raising his vox; "This is brother-sergeant Kadotus of the first tactical squad, requesting entry into the southern enclave entrance. I have fallen marines in pursuit and require assistance." He was at the gate, and a click in his ear notified that his message was received. The gate of the enclave began to open—horizontally.

Swearing a curse, Kadotus turned back to face his pursuers, pistol raised and power fist crackling once again. They emerged from the building and were immediately under fire from the wall, but they leapt from cover-to-cover as they advanced to claim their target. As they were within 20 meters of Kadotus, a sudden explosion wrecked the scene, and the burnt and disembodied corpses of the chaos minions flew about, crashing into buildings and other rubble. The men on the walls quickly unleashed volleys into the bodies, which moved no more.

Kadotus smiled as the gate behind him clunked open, the heavy gears finally allowing his entrance. Sparing a look back at the crater of whatever artillery shot, he spied a moving body. Before he could raise his pistol, the figure was raised.

He wore the armor of a chaos marine, along with heavy robes that hung from his pauldrons and chest. The marine's helmet was horned, decorated in a shape to one of the chaos gods. In the traitor's hand was a staff, which he pointed at Kadotus, who recognized the heretic as a sorcerer.

Kadotus froze as his sight suddenly flew towards the sorcerer, as if his eye had left his body. Time seemed to freeze as the sorcerer gazed into the eye from the dark visor of his helm, before releasing a stream of bolts from his staff. As Kadotus' view turned to follow it, he could only watch as chaos bolts pummeled his body, hurled back into the streets of the enclave.

Of what further happened to the sorcerer, Kadotus did not know. His vision passed to overlooking his burning body, wrecked in fire and his armor was cracked. His eyes were closed and he was snarling, slamming his power fist about in anger. And then he opened his eyes—the left was normal, a dull blue, but the left pupil was red.

Blood red.

* * *

Kadotus opened his eyes, panting, sweat running down his face. Looking up, he gazed upon the statue of the Emperor, who was raised up in holy perfection. Kadotus took several deep breaths, calming himself, and reminding himself who he was.

He was a loyal marine, and he was Sergeant Kadotus of the Knights of Steel 2nd Company.

The basic remembrance calmed his mind as he assured himself of no taint, and invoked his need to say another prayer to the Emperor. Afterwards, he stood up. He was still in his power armor, though he wore a dull gray tabard over the hardened ceramite. He reached for the helmet at his side, which had been replaced after he had lost it in the conflict. His pistol was in its holster, and Kadotus' power fist had been repaired by the last mechanicus scribes that had survived what their techmarine master had not.

Securing his helm, Kadotus took a deep breath as the cleansed circulated oxygen filled his lungs, the cold familiarity relaxing the sergeant. With such, he gazed back up at the Emperor, and crossed his hands on his chest in the sign of the Aquila, and then left the chapel.

Waiting until he had left the level and began his way up the ascender tracks, Kadotus toned his vox. "Brothers of 1st Squad, meet with your brothers in the antechamber of the bridge. The captain has something to discuss with us."

After speaking, Kadotus checked the corner of his visor, seeking the time frame. It had been three days since they had entered the Warp, with at least one more week in store to trespass the miasma of chaos for their destination of the homeworld, Holvir. He had spent the last 12 hours in prayer, his mind becoming far too lax in the later half, judging by the rememory Kadotus had encountered. It was a strange memory he experienced, and he suddenly was struck by the question of the dream. After the battle recovery, he had checked his eyes in a mirror, and both were blue.

Removing his helmet, he tried to get a reflection from the eye slots, but the slots were red, thus disallowing any result. Sighing slightly in his annoyance for his mind's distraction with the lie, he put his helm back onto his head as the ascender reached the bridge's level. After moving down the dark, square corridor, Kadotus came into the preceding chamber to the bridge, a large rectangular room with a multitude of chairs surrounding a holo-board, where many members of the chapter used to sit around for the pre-battle briefing. No longer were the scores of brothers clustered in the area, replaced by less than 20 marines, many wounded and still in need of prosthetics. For what remained, they sat close together, clustered around the table, swapping tales from the battles and of brothers lost. From a short ascendor in the corner, servitors emerged, bearing cups of drink and plates of whatever food the Astartes asked.

Kadotus nodded to the seated Masoi, as he passed them to yet to a door, which slid open to reveal the bridge. Stepping onto the platform, he saw his fellow officers, Sergeant Itan, Kinnar, and Captain Nage sitting around the command map, a glass of wine in each of their hands, minus Nage. They nodded as their fellow sergeant approached, Itan leaning over the table to pour him a glass.

Accepting the goblet, Kadotus removed his helmet, and set it down on the table. Taking a sip of the wine, he looked at his other officers, whom had a questioning look on their face. "850.M39...Orvino IV...The Julianus family vineyards?" Kadotus asked as he took a look at the crimson vino.

"Brother-sergeant?" Itan asked, his face contorted, although it was slightly hard for Kadotus to tell, as the mixture of fire that caught his hair and the resulting radiation of the bomb had melted much of his skin.

Kadotus raised an eyebrow. "What part was wrong?" His momentary jest was met with silence as the officers continued looking. "Is my skull reflecting? I've yet to wipe off the sweat after..." he paused in his sentence, as they looked for an explanation. "...My dream." He delivered no more information, waiting for one of them to probe about the dream, as it was unusual for a space marine to sleep, even more to dream.

It was Nage who broke the silence. "Sergeant, what happened in this dream of yours?" His metallic voice steady and calm.

Kadotus closed his eyes and took another drink of the wine. "It was a rememory of our battle, from the slight bombardment to our retreat to the enclave."

"The sorcerer?" Nage questioned, standing up from his seat.

"Aye," Kadotus replied, opening his eyes once again.

Kinnar drained the remainder of his glass. "Kadotus, did your perception of the event seem different than what it once was?"

"It was no different than the event itself." The sergeant lied, not wishing for them to suspect him of any heresy—he was a loyal and true servant of the Emperor. Kadotus didn't want for any Inquisition to get into this event, no more than they probably would.

Itan started, "Are you sure, sergeant? I don't doubt you, but—"

"I'm no heretic, witch, or mutant, if that's what you are suggesting, brother. My mind is pure and my faith is strong, ask my squad-brothers, if you doubt me so." Kadotus stood up angrily, and drained the remainder of his wine in a quick gulp. If you excuse me, brothers, I shall return to my quarters."

"Brother, we meant no offense in our questions." Nage said.

Kadotus peered over his pauldron and the others, and shook his head. Walking down the bridge towards the door, he stopped and looked at the psyker installed on the throne. The mutant was human in all aspects, expect that he bore a third eye on his forehead, the only thing able to guide the marines through their journey of the sub-space-like area of the warp. The man was silent, his normal eyes closed, and trying to be comfortable on the console as the dozens of wires held him in place with stilled order.

The navigator suddenly spasmed, his head lurching forward, a group of cords lurching to catch the skull before it pulled any wires loose. The man began to scream, as his eyes opened, blood pooling from the empty sockets. "The field is broken! We have lost!" He suddenly screamed. Kadotus stared at the sight while his fellow officers began running, Nage speaking into his vox.

The navigator struggled against all of the cords binding him to the machine, as whatever daemonic force plied at the ship's warp shields, and the psyker's very soul. Itan pushed the man back into his seat, hands held fiercely on his shoulders as the navigator continued shaking. "Get the apothecary's servitors, stat!" He yelled over the vox-systems, for every brother to hear.

From below, in the servitor bay below, one of the sub-humans spoke up in monotone. "Gellar field at 75%. Detections of warp energy leaking into the ship in unknown amounts. Automatic response has levels 3, 7, and 9 through 14 shut down in quarantine. A sudden field of Warp turbulence has caught our ship."

"Brothers, this is Captain Nage." The vox-system spoke. "Our navigator and fields have failed, the daemons are onboard. Look to your wargear and prepare for close quarters. The Emperor protects." The captain finished his message and turned to Kadotus. "Stay your rest, brother. I need you to patrol the lower levels with your squad and make sure no daemon can damage the crucial areas of the ship until we can drop out of the Warp."

Kadotus nodded. "I can do that, brother-captain."

The captain stared for a moment, the sergeant catching him staring at his eye. "The Emperor protects."

"The Emperor protects." Kadotus replied, turning away from the others as Nage began his orders to the other sergeants, the warning klaxons repeating in their deadly crescendo.

* * *

"This is sergeant Kadotus, the engine room is clear. All servitors are in position and the wards are still in hold."

"Maintain diligence, and report to the plasma generators." Nage ordered. "With Emperor's blessing, the machine-spirit's readings might be wrong."

"We all have our wishes, Captain." Kadotus said, as he walked into the hallway, the light projected by his helmet illuminating the dark corridor, as power had to be used in more essential areas during warp travel. From behind him, the heavy thuds of his three brothers' boots followed his path, tracing out in a diamond shape: Kadotus in the middle of the hall, in the front, Ocydo to the left a couple meters behind, Masoi on the opposite side, and Dawir behind Kadotus, a couple meters from Masoi and Ocydo. They moved without talk, their helmet-lamps checking around the hall for any form of interference. The hallway was dull, gunmetal gray with a steady iron floor and walls of the same sheet, with small little supports every couple of meters.

They came into a four-way connection, and assumed the left, which they followed for a couple hundred meters until coming to a turn in which they turned right. From there, they came upon a servitor standing mindlessly in the hallways, its drill hands spinning with no purpose. As the Marines approached it, the mind-scrubbed slave turned to them. It spoke a series of binary chirps, before spazzing out and colliding with a wall, the drill whining as they struggled to penetrate the thick hulls of the battle cruiser. Kadotus approached the servitor and put it out of its mindless trance, a quick snap of its neck.

"Masoi, check the body. See if we can learn anything, whether it's daemonic or mindlock." Kadotus nodded to the brother on his right.

Nodding, Masoi approached, kneeling beside the machine-human hybrid, peeling back the metal plate that was attached to its skull, revealing a dried up brain. Taking a look at the plate and following it down to the spine, Masoi pulled it off with a crack, gazing at the connectors between the servitor's neural-system. "Definitely a case of mindlock. After we lost Tumiq in our defense, I guess our few techpriests have had little reason to check upon every servitor in these passages." He prodded the servitor's dried up brain with a finger, opening it up and pulling a little cable that was burnt out and severed at a few points. "I'm guessing the warp trauma in combination with the weakening field, as well as the plasma generation has burnt out many more. Let's tell the Enginseers about this when we get back, eh?" Masoi tossed the cable away and threw the brain back onto the servitor's corpse.

After he fell back into formation, the group continued onto its path down the hallway. As the squad marched, Kadotus heard the sound of feet echoing ahead. He made no mention of it, as he was sure his brothers must have heard. Suddenly, there was a crash in the same direction of the feet, pushing Kadotus and his brothers into a run, weapons raised.

The sound of bloodshed and metal falling onto the ground echoed in a fierce storm, as the dull rumbling of the plasma generators increased in volume. Turning another corner, the corpses of three servitors lay broken and dismembered on the floor, their blood leaking into nearby vents. "Captain, we have found three slain servitors—ripped apart by some means or another," Kadotus spoke into his vox-bead, examining the corpses as he neared them. "I hear further reports of conflict in the plasma generator room. I shall pursue and apprehend the targets responsible. The Emperor protects."

From the other side of the vox, Nage's metallic voice stuttered before replying "Alerting the other squads to your position. The plasma might interfere with your vox, so you'll be in there alone. The Emperor protects."

Kadotus lead his squad around the corner, coming to the door of the engine room. The portal was broken open, halved by a blade, with a mutilated corpse of a servitor lying underneath one side of the door. From within the room, the light of the plasma reactors radiated into the hallways, flickering as the remains of servitors were being thrown about by the daemons inside.

Kadotus turned to his brothers, and peered at the doorway. Activating his power fist, he moved to the side of the portal as his brothers pulled their close-combat weapons out, a chainsword, a combat knife, and a bayoneted boltgun readied in his brother's hands.

Turning the corner with pistol raised, Kadotus scanned the room quickly. The generator room was large, roughly seven levels in height of catwalks, the lines of spastic blue tubes lining the walls, inconsistencies due to lack of constant maintenance worrying the plasma inside. Alongside the large reactors rested the two score corpses of the menials whom once served in the generator room, dismembered and torn apart in a brutal massacre. Standing atop these bodies were figures of nigh-human form, minus the drastic changes to their skin: horns jutted at abnormal angles, wings stretched from the creatures' backs, their fingers ranged from tentacles to insectoid claws, and their feet covered the range of every imaginable beast.

In their numbers, Kadotus counted 16, more than enough to overwhelm Kadotus and his four-man squad. Yet, they were the Emperor's Space Marines, and they would die fighting. The bark of Kadotus' bolt pistol was followed by Ocydo's bolter, as Masoi's chainsword began its howling roar, and Dawir yelled a cry as the squad began its charge at the daemon group. In an instant, the beasts focused on the marines and drew their weapons, shrieking in their tongue as they leapt.

Kadotus met the first one, a red bloodletter of Khorne, his fist grabbing the daemon's blade in the air as his bolt-pistol was raised to the warp-spawn's large skull. The bloodletter's other hand moved to smack Kadotus' arm away, the shot flying loose into the generator room. Not letting it phase him, Kadotus' fist crushed the daemon's sword and kicked the beast away, the solid base of the boot pushing the daemon two meters as Kadotus righted his pistol for a burst at the daemon's skull.

A sudden alert in his helmet spun him around in time to raise his arms up to a black mace, the ceramite of his forearms cracking slightly under the impact. Thrusting the blunt object away, Kadotus dove at the creature, letting his rage take hold as his fists pummeled the beast until it was banished back to the outsides of the warp.

"Sergeant!" A warning came from Ocydo, but Kadotus trusted his helmet's alert milliseconds beforehand. Rolling off the daemon's body, he narrowly avoided the swipe of a daemon's talon, the beast bearing many characteristics a bird, with blue and gold wings stretching from its back and a large beak bearing rows of teeth.

A shot came from Ocydo's bolter, tearing through the daemon's wing, feathers flying out in a burst of a bluish liquid. The beast stuttered, and tried flapping its wings to get it some distance from the space marines. Not leaving it any time to recover, Kadotus leapt at it, power fist crackling and aimed at the fiend's chest.

But his jump was interrupted as he was snapped back, a tight coil looped around his knee joint, crushing into the vulnerable armor lining. Turning his head around as he hit the floor, Kadotus saw the looming face of a daemonette, a mouth on its chest expelling a tongue that held down the sergeant. Pushing off the floor, he rotated his upper body to grab the daemonette's face in the power fist, a crunch echoing as the skull was pulverized under his fist's strength.

Raising himself, he checked his surroundings for a brief moment. Ocydo was running at the winged daemon, bolter firing, with three daemons chasing. Masoi was in a duel with a bloodletter as four others were trying to score a hit without denying their ally its prize. Dawir was struggling at his blade was locked with a daemon of Nurgle's, the fiend slowly pressing its large weight against the battle brother.

Kadotus stared for a second to determine his most valuable objective, but that was all that was needed for everything to go wrong. A bloodletter teleported behind Dawir and the daemon's sword lurched through the brother's chest in an explosion of blood and gore. Masoi suddenly tumbled as a daemonette caught his arm in its clutches, throwing the brother onto the ground as it raised its claws to strike. Ocydo's foe released as stream of purple bolts, punching through the brother's helmet and chest, leaving the brother to collapse as the daemons pursuing him caught the falling corpse.

In a rage, Kadotus ran towards Ocydo's killer, as his failure to kill the beast previously had left his brother to die. The bird-like daemon squawked as it noticed the sergeant barreling at it, hastily yelling out words that Kadotus couldn't understand, nor did he care.

As he was within two meters, he yelled a stretched out his fist to meet the daemon's glowing talons. The fiend's eyes glowed purple as it spoke its final word, and everything Kadotus knew disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3

Warhammer 40,000: Knights of Steel

By Alssadar

Chapter 3

His eyes opened, and all he knew was pain.

It was very similar to the pains he had endured during the procedure to become a space marine, a yearlong surgery without anesthetics, though he had no solid slab to which he was contained. And instead of a dark cellar with only the white armor of an apothecary, Kadotus stared into the infinite space of oblivion and everything, all at the same time. Swirling forms of every color imaginable was available to his sight, in all shapes and sizes, of all creatures and imagination, breaking reality and psychics simultaneously in a pressure that nearly broke Kadotus' mind apart.

He was cast out into the warp.

His body was struck by some unknown force, causing him to be flung outwards into the maelstrom, colliding with some other object that was mathematically impossible. Scrambling to understand the figure, he was struck again, pain erupting as he suddenly came to the realization that most of his internal organs were broken and operating only at the limit to stay alive.

Something was toying with him, not willing to let him die.

The realization would have shocked a normal man into fear, but Kadotus was no normal man. Besides, the chaos of the warp could have easily torn apart any normal human's armor, if not the pain that would have killed them. Whatever daemon was playing with the sergeant wanted him alive, Kadotus connected through a weak chain of logic, to exact whatever task it could not perform in the mortal realm. The daemon would speak its lies and deliver him back into normal space to enact its plan. Through this path, Kadotus knew it was his only way to get back to his brothers, but he questioned whether his soul would be tainted by the act, the last vestiges of his purity cast away by the fiends beyond the veil.

As he pondered, another bolt struck him in the back, flinging him forward, heading towards a large structure that was floating amidst the chaos of the Warp. The building made Kadotus' mind struggle as the rectangular tower's angles added up to more than 360 degrees, but when he came to impact the walls, it held true and corporeal. Seizing his chance of a physical object to hold, Kadotus dug his fingers into small chinks in the bricks, and raised his power fist, activating it and punching through the wall. It was then he realized his bolt pistol was missing, possibly lost amidst his torture in the Warp; nonetheless, he was to carry on regardless of his armaments and find a way to return to his brothers unscathed by corruption.

Floating himself in the zero gravity, he pushed himself into his custom portal to find himself in a vast palace, whose dimensions would not fit the building he saw on the outside. Floating along an elaborate hallway fixed with lighting arrangements and painting of aeons past, he came to a door made of a wet pink substance.

Steeling himself, Kadotus floated alongside the door's handle and pulled it open. Suddenly, there was sound around him as a visible flood of some gaseous substance filled the chamber, shrieking as it found its way out the hallways into the Warp. As Kadotus held onto the side the wall, the gasses stopped their call and subsided, a loud clang emanating from down the hall, where the sergeant had made his entrance. As if in concurrence, the pink door closed in a soft, squishing sound.

Kadotus pushed himself off the wall to examine the next room, but gravity suddenly appeared, letting the marine fall heavily upon the brick floor with a thunk. Standing up, Kadotus scanned his helmet's visor, letting his armor's automatic systems evaluate the area. After ten seconds of waiting, small words arrived in a coded format: "System clean—breathing level is optimum for survivability."

With a sigh, Kadotus removed his helmet and clipped it to his waist, before settling down against a wall. It was a dramatic relief to be given a rest as he felt his body heal from whatever wounds had been inflicted upon him in the Warp. He paused and looked at his reflection in his helmet's visor: his face was now pockmarked with several gashes and clotted blood. A large scar ran across his forehead, and the two service studs were removed from his skull, each proof of his 100 years of service as a space marine, now left as bloody holes on his head.

The color of his eyes were still indeterminable.

With his break in order, Kadotus closed his eyes as the pain subsided, letting himself rest until his body could operate at average efficiency. After what seemed like a brief moment, Kadotus was back up again, his power fist activated and his free hand clenched in a similar fist. Pushing open the pink door, he came into a large room filled with lines of statues that lead to a second level, which was hidden behind a large wall. Kadotus was able to hear the sounds of bardic music hailing from over the wall, with a deep-toned voice singing along.

_It has to be a daemon_, Kadotus thought to himself as he scanned the room, gazing up the detailed statues of guardsmen, tau, orks, and even chaos marines. Walking as quiet as a superhuman in heavy power armor could, Kadotus began his trek down the lines of stone bodies, slightly paranoid as their eyes seemed to be following him, but he dismissed the thought and muttered a prayer to the Emperor for strength.

And so now he approached the stairway, solid stone carvings bearing images of battles and daemons beyond imagination. Taking steady steps up the stairs, the singing never stopped nor fluctuated for an instant. Whatever the beast was, it had poor hearing, Kadotus guessed, as a fully armored space marine could be scarcely stealthy in such an bland

Unless the daemon already noticed him and was simply playing him as the fool, he pondered, reaching the end of the steps. But, nonetheless, what else was he to do? He had to approach this daemon, and either banish it or use it to return to his brothers.

Walking a few feet along the gray wall, he came upon its end, a gray pillar lined with golden trims, a scene of a million dying mortals engraved in a spiraling course. Kadotus' eyes caught it for a second before he tore his eyes away—lest he be caught in the corruption of the unholy. Taking his turn around the corner, Kadotus was revealed to the beast and its stone flock.

The creature itself was a mutated creature of human form, laying down against the wall behind it, at least five meters in height. It looked like a large, perverted doll made by some insane toy maker, with its skin seeming to be made of a rough-spun fabric that was old and fraying. Its limbs were lumpy as if it was stuffed wrong, and its left arm was weak and limp while the right was bulging against the daemon's skin. The creatures head itself was massively orb, bearing two black, beady eyes and a wide mouth that spread around from one side of its head to the other, singing to its companions. And as Kadotus had guessed before, it actually didn't have ears. The daemon nodded its weighted head upon seeing the sergeant, and continued his song, closing its eyes and leaning back.

Kadotus spared a look at the daemon's entourage. They were similar to the stone figures he had seen before, except these were given animation. They played instruments ranging from winds to strings to several instruments unknown to Kadotus, with the corrupted form of a heretic pushing wind through a flute while a guardsman frozen without an arm tapped a light beat on a drum. The small form of an eldar sat against the wall, strumming a harp as a stone space marine sang in a deep voice.

Turning back to the daemon, the beast smiled at the sergeant. "Welcome, my friend. How do you find the music?" The beast grumbled with a lighthearted tone.

Kadotus made no reply, simply staring at the patchwork fiend in front of him.

If the creature had eyebrows, it would have raised them. "Are you a mute, then? I say, though, your brothers have a wonderful tone for music. Such a waste for you, my poor servant."

"I am a servant of the Emperor of mankind, daemon filth." Kadotus replied, staring into the daemon's black eyes. The daemon stared at the marine for a second, and Kadotus saw a small stone being flying about the fiend. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a necron scarab, its multiple talons moving in some kind of code.

"Of course you are." The daemon said, raising its limp left arm to point at his flock. "They once served their respected leaders as well, but I taught them the true acts of art, and they decided to never leave this realm. 'Tis a pity I cannot hear their songs, yet they strive so hard to make me aware of their talent." The patchwork daemon said with a sigh, shaking its large head.

"These statues are all your servants, fiend?" Kadotus asked the creature, glancing at the singing marine, whose stone armor allowed no designation of his chapter. Returning his eyes to the daemon, he saw the scarab translate his speech for the creature.

"They are not servants, merely those who pursue the greater beauties of art, as given by the wisps of the webway and mysteries of the warp." The daemon spoke, rolling its small feet in circles on the ground. "But enough about me and my entourage, my friend, what is it that you seek in my chambered halls that you would destroy my halls and fling some of my precious artwork into space?"

Kadotus glared at the daemon. The fiend was not speaking any lies, besides the recruitment of its servants, only simplicity and of its art_. Was there a hidden group of daemons with honor that hid themselves away in the warp?_ Kadotus instantly crushed the stray thought from his head, lest the idea corrupt him. This false image was of how the daemon gathered its following and corrupted entire populations to its cause.

The stray though suddenly entered his head, _there is no sense in lying to the daemon, as they know all that you known and even more_. The thought sounded foreign, yet slightly reminiscent of his teachings as an initiate. Sparing a look at the harp-playing eldar, he spoke, "I was cast here by a daemon during a travel through the warp. I do not know how I survived, but I seek return to my brothers." He glared up at the daemon, whose eyes focused on the scarab that translated into sign language.

"Ah yes," The fiend spoke, "You are a brother of the Knights of Steel. It was your ship that past by my realm several days ago... I give my condolences to your brothers; your ship was a work of art. The tapestries and murals that hung in your halls were beautiful."

"You speak as if my brothers are dead, creature." Kadotus frowned. "Despite our lacking strength, our ship would not fall to such an incursion." The creature had finally started his lies to the sergeant, to sway him to chaos—but he would not fall.

"They are, sergeant. For that, I can at least give you some memories of your loss." For this, the daemon raising his thick right arm, swaying its frayed end as the loud gasping sounds of breath were heard from the floor below them. Seconds later, two stone eldar appeared bearing a crate between the two, settling it down in front of the sergeant. Glaring at the stone figures, they bowed and went to their master's side. "Find whatever instrument you seek and play for our guest," the daemon spoke to the two.

As the eldar moved to join their fellow musicians, Kadotus settled his power fist on the chest. Staring up at the daemon, his hands found the clasp, and he lifted up the top. - And there they were, four flags that once hung in the company's chambers, not seen by anyone but the brothers of the chapter. They were specific, as well, the direct notations of the 2nd company, with the individual honor roles of the brothers who served in the conflicts, all the hundreds of names listed in perfect script, as if it were they were the real thing.

"I thought you may like these gifts, sergeant. And I may help you to stir your revenge." The daemon grumbled as it turned back to face the musicians.

Kadotus lifted the final flag to find a burnt, worn out cloak, that was all but similar to the one Nage wore, the clasps and remains of the sash attached. But on the black cape rested a sigil painted on with dried blood, in the shape of a hand holding an axe. The icon was familiar—the Vehement Raiders, the enemy they fought on Lavot se Povleče. Ripping the cloak up, Kadotus knew the role he would have to adapt to return to the mortal realm.

"The Raiders are no friends of mine, I can assure you, sergeant. They destroy statues and murals, and burn sights that are beautiful in the rising sun. They have also conflicted with my art collectors across the galaxy, as well as their damnation of my soul." The daemon spoke. "For this, I would see them pay for their crimes, and I will allow you to take those flags as my gift." The fiend rose its limp arm, pointing at the sergeant. "I will cast you through the warp close your planet, in an area where a ship might be able to provide transport. All I seek on my end is the Raider's demise."

Kadotus put on his metaphorical mask and gazed up at the daemon. "Then why do you send me to Holvir if the Raiders were in the Warp? Surely, they meant to pursue and return to Lavot se Povleče?"

The daemon smiled with its sharp teeth. "I sometimes forget how unknowing you humans are until I speak with one. The Raiders become tired with the planet of the lions, and have now put their sight upon your steel knights' home. Even now, they have boarded your ship and killed its crew. With such a task force, they have disguised themselves and adopted your codes—and daemons to form doppelgangers. They mean to destroy you from the inside, whether it means the wholesale destruction of your planet, or the chapter in general, I have no idea."

The lies of the fiend had driven his patience to the end. "Listen to me, you daemon fiend." He took a step, kicking the chest away. "There is no truth in your words, only lies to corrupt and hollow me from the inside." He took a step, and the musicians stopped their playing. "And I am a true servant of the Emperor."

"Whether you deny or accept my words, the fate is still to come; your chapter is to fall by the Raiders Vehement, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Your decision has sealed this fate." The daemon shook its head. "A pity, your craftsmen were talented and could have become great students of mine. So, take your leave sergeant. Let your brothers die, and acknowledge your weakness, that you truly are corrupt and this downfall is all your fault. You know nothing of the real world, as you hide yourself away from your brothers. You are no true warrior." It snarled, the corner of its mouth turning into an angry snarl.

"So speaks the liar to the faithful!" Kadotus roared, activating his power fist and rushing at the daemon.

"Your choice, sergeant. Seal your fate." The strong hand waved, glowing with a purple glow along the frayed edges. As Kadotus jumped to deliver the punch, the glow stopped and Kadotus' last sight was of the daemon freak smiling at him.

* * *

Kadotus opened his eyes, and he could see the outlines of space all around him. It was normal space, which reassured the sergeant as his mind struggled to find its bearings. Judging from the air supply remaining in his tanks, Kadotus had been asleep in space for at least three hours, and the time since his battle with the daemons onboard the _Blade of Alacrity_ was four days ago. The flow of time in the warp is abnormal, but Kadotus knew he needed every second. He knew he had to return to his chapter, and request a librarian and chaplain simultaneously to be purged of the daemon's influence.

In further examining his environment, Kadotus noted of how he was in the space above a large, light-brown planet, which bore many of the characteristics of being an agri-world, providing food for the vast legions of worlds in the Imperium. But, even more important, he noticed a large structure orbiting the planet, with scores of ships, merchants most likely, traveling in and out at a constant pace. I shall secure a ship, a psyker, and my location. From there, I will return to my brothers and submit to authority for deliverance and purgation.

Activating his Imperial frequency, it took a further hour for a ship to notice and bring him to the spaceport, which was further identified as Canlyn, of the Cynthania system. The station had a further report of 172 docked ships, with only 46 of them prepared to be launched within a day, and 13 within the next hour. Of those 13, only one had the warp drives necessary to cross the distance to Holvir within three days, and Kadotus would rather return to his brothers as fast as possible.

After speaking with the leader of the spaceport and being told it would be a bad mark for both him and the chapter to simply steal the ship and whatever crewmembers onboard, he would need to request permission to board the captain's ship, and act with the necessary Imperial authority in order to achieve his goal.

Stalking down to the lower levels of the spaceport, Kadotus passed by a group of sleeping drunks, all of which who were robbed of their possessions besides their underclothes. After giving an angry glare at the bouncer, he walked past the doors into the hazy light of the spaceport's bar. The dim lights stationed several levels above set the stage for the dark corners as men drank their wages away rather than waste it away on something more useless to their situation. The air was thick with smoke from cigarettes and warmed food, though Kadotus' eyes were able to see clear through them. Besides, he knew his target, and he knew his crew. All thirty-four members of the _Belligerent Enterprise_, a ship chartered by the Merchant-Daimyo organization of the Edo clans. The ship itself was not of Edo, but of the subsector Uncylies, therefore, its loyalties could be swayed and no further questioning by the Edo organization would be in order, as they would simply guess they either were lost in the Warp, or betrayed them to a rival organization. Nonetheless, the situation given was nigh perfect for Kadotus.

Ignoring the drunken pleas of men whom thought the sergeant was after them, he crossed the levels as men ran away at the sight of such a giant, often bringing silence to entire floors at a time as the devout began praying at such a rare sight. But, Kadotus had no use for them. Upon reaching the seventh level, he spied a large table bearing the high-ranking crew of the _Enterprise_, the captain, second-in-command, navigations officer, engiseer techpriest, defense, medicinal, and human resources heads. His memory matched them with the descriptions given of them, and so he approached the table as a drunken man began puking and pleading for his life. Moving aside of the man's excrement, he approached Captain Niccalou, the graying, bearded captain raising his eyes slowly to meet the approaching space marine. Following his gaze and the silence that stilled the floor, the remainder of the _Enterprise_'s crew looked upon Kadotus, their eyes a mixture of awe and fear, with the old, balding defense officer Beyett having his eyes drunkenly stare off in two different directions at the same time.

"Captain," The sergeant said in his approach, ignoring the watching eyes of the other merchants around him. "In the name of the chapter of the Knights of Steel, I am requesting permission to board your ship and head to the planet of Holvir. We will leave within the hour and head through the warp in order to reach my destination within less than three galactic days." Although he was requesting permission, Kadotus knew that he was demanding this of the captain. Meeting eyes with Niccalou, the captain blinked a couple times before standing up.

"Of course, my lord. I shall call the men to their posts and order the proper rituals to the machine-spirits. With optimal time given for my crew, we shall meet your expectations to the point." The captain saluted sharply, as an ex-naval officer would do, given what his record spoke of him. Niccalou's fellow officers stood and performed the same, minus Beyett who fell over, breaking his glass into scraps, a large piece wedging itself in the man's face. As the man began yelling, Alegre, the ship's doctor, leapt to the wounded man. Niccalou flushed with embarrassment in front of the space marine. "We shall discipline our defense officer upon leave, sir, as well as ban the use of alcohol onboard the ship, my lord." A brief sigh was emitted by the young techpriest, who immediately straightened up and bowed for Kadotus.

"That will be all. I shall arrive on your ship and we will leave posthaste. Any crewmember not onboard within an hour shall be left on the station." Kadotus turned away as Niccalou saluted once more. Traveling down a level, Kadotus' mind was a flurry with information streams that were being read to him through his helmet's connection with the station, bringing further detail on the crew's past and all of their relations with anyone. And it seemed that officer Beyett had a horrible record for being drunk and starting fights whilst intoxicated, Kadotus noted with a slight smirk.

But his flow of knowledge was interrupted as he noticed a man was standing in front of him, his body braced as if he was trying to stop a charging horse by standing still. Kadotus noted the slight dilation of the man's pupils and haggard breathing from his throat, and his super-human senses could notice the alcohol on his heavy breath. "You...you let my sister die!" The man cried out piteously, his eyes suddenly crying. "You let the fiends take her down while you just...stood by and watched!" The man was obviously a horrid wreck of depression from whatever event he was describing, and this one chance at affronting his imagined killer seemed to bring the man his strength. In his right hand was a glass bottle, held tightly in his grip as a weapon.

Kadotus stood still and watched the man cry his eyes dry, wiping them and shouting more nonsense as the bar watched in silent horror of what the man's fate was to be. "I never knew your sister, human." The sergeant spoke angrily at the man's accusation. "Nor did I stand by and let her die if I did."

The man shook his head. "It was you who killed her—ripped her head right off!" The drunken man turned to one of the onlookers. "They...they brought their daemons and killed them all!" The man staggered back to face Kadotus, taking a swig.

"What planet do you speak of, you drunken lout?" Kadotus tightened his power fist to activate it.

"Lavot...*hic*... Lavot se Povleče!" The man cried, and charged at Kadotus, his bottle in hand. The sergeant simply stood and let the man charge, the wine bottle breaking uselessly on his armor, and the fists that pounded afterwards were not even felt by Kadotus. After several seconds, the man's fists stopped and his tears began once more, his weeping face gazing up into Kadotus' helmet. "Why...why did you abandon us? Are we not the Emperor's faithful?" The continued his sob, sinking down to the floor, his head level with Kadotus' knee.

Kadotus breathed heavily through his nose and removed his helmet, taking half a second to adjust his senses to the influx of the heavy bar scents, of fear, beer, piss, and mankind's filth. Kneeling down to the drunk man, he pulled his face up to gaze into his eyes. The man stared in shock as his eyes wept, both of them gazing upon Kadotus' left eye. "Know this, human. I was never on your planet, nor do I know of its existence." He lied, and raised his power fist to the man's shoulder, settling it upon his bones. "But know this, you are one of the Emperor's faithful, and he shall grant you your purchase for devotion." The drunken man nodded, and let more tears flow down his cheeks, as he could find no words to speak against the giant of ceramite and muscle. "And know this," Kadotus said, moving his power fist. "You shall be with your sister in the Emperor's peace."

The fist tightened around the man's head, shattering it instantly with a flow of blood and brains to the surrounding area. The crowd backed away in silence upon the scene, gazing at the marine with fear and terror, their scents easily detected by Kadotus. "Let it be known that this is his price he paid for assaulting one of the Emperor's kind, and I gave him his execution for his crime. Pray you follow the same, lest you find yourself in the same fate."

Walking from the scene, he descended another floor, but a robed man stood in front of him. Without a crowd to encircle and draw attention, Kadotus was brief. "What is it you seek, human, your death like the drunken failure above?"

The robed man shook his head, his face obscured in the shadows of the bar. "Nay, my lord. I am but a simply psyker, and I wish to aid you in your travels—I, too, have the need to go to Holvir, and I could provide my talents to relax the navigator's ailments." The man nodded eagerly. "It is my duty to serve the Sons of Dorn, no matter their derivation of the original lords, and I shall not fail you, my lord." The robe was pulled back to reveal a crest of the order psykanis upon the man's bald skull, the man's eyes a pit of black holes. Along the man's cheek rested a tattoo of the Imperial Fists legion, a clenched fist.

Glaring over the psyker, Kadotus spoke, "You may accompany us, psyker, but watch yourself. I do not take kindly to witches and their kin."

"With good reasoning, my lord." The psyker said with a bow. As he came up, he met Kadotus' eyes. "It will serve me well to know I served the Red-Eyed Servant." With that, he left, turning his back into the men below, becoming simply another robed man in the sea of mysterious figures.

Sparing a glare of suspicion at the crowds around him, Kadotus started heading towards his target.


	4. Chapter 4

Warhammer 40,000: Knights of Steel

By Alssadar

Chapter 4

It had been two days since the ship had left Canlyn for Holvir, their travels through the warp safeguarded by ship's navigator, crippled young man without legs by the name of ilRannor. The youth was barely out of his house, drafted a couple years beforehand in the Edo's desperate desire for an increase in profits. For his young age, the boy's ability to keep the ship in the Warp, and still maintain a link to the astropaths Holvir was astounding.

Kadotus stood on the bridge, with the robed psyker now known as Xiljuro ding beside him as they watched the ship's progress in silence, the crewmembers sitting lax in their seats, sparing a look at their cogitators every couple minutes. The ship's view screen was shielded, protecting the weak minds of the crew from the terrors of the warp.

Kadotus had wandered the ship from head to toe, inspecting the ship from every aspect. He was no techmarine, but he knew how to properly inspect his craft. He found no structural weaknesses and had already planned on which spaces to seal in the event of a field breakdown. Despite the navigation's officer's statement that the field was solid, Kadotus didn't want another event like the previous one. Too many good men had died, and the Kadotus would rather getting back to Holvir in one piece.

And through the past days, Kadotus was growing impatient, as the ship had no onboard chapel to pray at, nor any chambers to spar or shooting ranges. His patience had grown thin as he slept for an hour the first night, which was enough to last a space marine for several days, leaving him to speak with the crew and pray to a small icon he had crafted from the steel of his chamber walls. "What's the status until we arrive?" He asked.

"Three hours, my lord. Renormalizing with regular space shall take up to half and hour, and the further hour of transportation to the planet itself." Toran, the navigation's officer, replied, gazing at his cogitator screen. "I suspect there might be further questioning on the reason we have a lost marine onboard, so the timing estimate is over five hours." The bearded man leaned back from his post and stuck a cigar back into his mouth. "Hey, Alegre, you still got those cards with you?" He called over to his fellow officer.

Kadotus ignored the lax officer and turned his head to glare at Xiljuro, the psyker's stamp shining on his head. The man met his eyes, glaring specifically at his left eye, as he had for the rest of the trip. It finally and piqued his curiosity to ask the human. "Why do you stare at my eye, so, witch?"

If the man was offended by the term, he didn't show it. "You are the Red-Eyed Servant of legend, are you not?" Xiljuro smiled.

Kadotus raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard of this prophecy, nor do I listen to the rantings of seers and false mystics. The only men to trust are of the Emperor's ilk."

Xiljuro bowed his head. "If I meant offense to you, my lord, it was unintentional. The legend is an old tale passed down many a generation of my family line, based on the sight of my great great great grandfather. He spoke of a warrior of such skill and strength, who was simply a pawn of his lord, who was able to bring down an empire. For his courage, he was rewarded with power vast beyond his dreams. However, his brothers had been jealous of him, so his enemies took them into their fold to strike against the red-eyed warrior." The man paused, seeing Kadotus' probing eyes. "Does my lord wish for me to continue with my tale?"

"You mean my eye is red, that is what you speak of?" Kadotus asked.

Xiljuro nodded. "Of course, my lord. Your left eye has been blessed with greater knowledge and foresight than any other man, save the Emperor and his closest sons! Why, the red-eye warrior was lost, but he used his vision to pass through the lands of desecration to return to his liege-lord, when all of his cartographers had failed." But then, the psyker froze.

Kadotus knew what line of thoughts he spoke of. "And so now you think we are to be attacked, and I shall have to take the place of the captain?" He looked about the bridge to find Niccalau settling his hand down on the table to collect a stream of paper slips from his compatriots with a wizened smile upon his face.

"Are you not the warrior of the prophecy, my lord? I did mention the warrior of choice was a battle-scarred veteran who was holy and pure, who gained his foresight on the loss of a battle?" The man from order psykanis asked.

"I will believe no rantings, with my only belief in the Allfather who shall rise from his position on the Golden Throne to lead us to victory over his foes." He glared down at the psyker. "No more talk of these stories old men told you, there are only lies."

The man frowned, but bowed simultaneously. "Of course, my lord. Whatever you say." He turned away, and walked to the men playing cards, offering to take a place in their next game. Kadotus ignored him, crossing his arms and let his mind wonder, questioning what fate would befall him.

And then the sudden plague of thought entered his mind_. What if the daemon was right, and my brothers are dead, only being manipulated by the traitorous curs of the Raiders?_ He instantly was angered by the idea and tried to remove it from his thoughts, though it persisted adopting different forms and further questions. As his mind could find no rest, he dropped to the floor of the hull on one knee, closing his eyes and silently mouthing prayers as his hand clutched the Imperial idol he had made.

He continued with fierce determination for several minutes before someone noticed, although the sergeant didn't notice it in his focused state. The game of cards stopped as the officers peered back at their cogitators and saw the collapsed marine, instinctively gathering fear. It them a while to try and revert back to their card game, though they were still unnerved by such a random event. After several bad hands, Niccalau stood up, exasperated. "I'll see what is the matter with our guest." Settling his hands on his belt with an old Imperial saber, he knelt beside the marine, watching his mouth.

After many minutes of silent watching, Kadotus finally stopped his prayers and remained still. Niccalau took his chance. "My lord?" He questioned. "Is everything alright?"

Kadotus' eyes shot open, suddenly bloodshot and fierce, staring deep into Niccalau's face with a glare. If he meant to say anything he was interrupted as the ship began a low grumbling. "Sir, we've encountered some Warp turbulence," Toran spoke. "Our ships estimations range it to further our course by several minutes..."

But from the other side of the bridge, Beyett yelled out. "Galler shields are falling, the turbulence is tearing them apart! Captain, get us out of here!"

Niccalou stood up and faced his crew. "Our flight is controlled by the navigator in this realm. I have no control over his path." The human faced ilRannor sitting upon his seat. And suddenly, Kadotus was next to the youth, power fist crackling with energy. "My lord, what are you doing?"

"If he falls, I'm to take him out before the ship takes any more harm. Xiljuro, come over here; you're to replace him if he's flung out." Kadotus demanded of the other psyker.

The robed man frowned. "But, my lord, I am not a navigator, but a mere psyker—"

"You can peer through the damned Warp as well as this witch, and you can serve the same purpose." Kadotus glared at the man, making a motion for the psyker to come. After Xiljuro stood next to him, he turned to face the crewmembers. "I was lost to the Warp before my arrival at your station, as my ship had faced the same circumstances as we do now." He cracked his power fist and put his helmet on with his other hand. "I do not seek to lose another ship on my journey home."

With that, the _Enterprise_ shook, as Beyett began the quarantine of areas of the ship, ideas given to him by Kadotus. "Gather your weapons, and stand our guard here. We shall not let them take us out of here alive."

Kadotus stood guard as the others rushed to gather their gear from their rooms, hurrying back in mercenary armor that could barely prevent a las-gun, least of all a daemon weapon. As the hatch opened to detect the movement of Alegre down the hall, sudden gunfire shot her to bloody pieces before she could respond. Kadotus recognized the firing as boltguns, meaning the traitor astartes had boarded, not like the daemons before.

"Seal the doors, we can not retrieve her! Form a defensive perimeter around the door and let them come in so I can engage." Kadotus roared as ilRannor behind them started shrieking, his mind slowly consumed by the Warp around them. Turning from the doors, Kadotus' power fist grabbed the psyker and pulled him out, the cords detaching with a gasping hiss. Throwing the legless youth onto the floor, Kadotus stomped the body, his hands reaching to push Xiljuro into the seat. The psyker screamed as the tendrils of the navigator's chair drilled into his skin, fierce straps locking to hold the man in place. The man's wines eventually subsided into grunts and twitches on his face as the spark of door-cutting equipment made sound through the doorway to the bridge.

"Stick to your cover and suffer not the traitor to live!" He yelled as the door was opened, allowing an opening salvo of a half-dozen bolters. Beyett was struck immediately, his las-pistol dropping from his hand as his chest was burst apart. Kadotus still hid his position in the varying space beside the door, waiting for a traitor to take a step in. The boltgun fire flew across the bridge, colliding with many an instrument that emerged with sparks and cogitator whines. The remaining crewmembers stuck behind their cover, spitting out weak bursts of las-fire before hiding once more.

But the heretics would not advance, slowly settling their fire against the men in cover, until the floor of the bridge was slick with the blood of the fallen. It was not until that only a couple of the men remained that the chaos space marines finally started their approach, brown and gray boots taking a heavy step through the doorway. The first one was unprepared for Kadotus to leap out, tackling the traitor against the opposing wall, with his power fist delivering a punch through his exposed sternum. With that, the chaos marines raised their weapons, but Kadotus charged at them.

The first bolt went high and the second scraped his shoulder-pad, and there was no third one as Kadotus crushed it and the traitor's hand in one motion. The explosion of the bolter shell within the chamber forced the traitor back as Kadotus' other remaining hand punched marine's helmet to knock him down.

From there, Kadotus turned on the remaining traitors, four in their number. Two had drawn their close combat weapons whilst the remainder held their boltguns. Ducking low, he avoided the chaos marines' shots and dived towards one of the close-combat marines, raising his fist to meet the heretic's chainsword that began swinging down at him. The weapon bit into the ceramite of his armor without fail, drawing blood along the teeth.

With a bellow, the sergeant punched the sword out and threw his fist up to the exposed chest, which was met with the traitor's arm. Kicking out his leg, Kadotus' boot made a solid crack as it smashed through the knee plate to crush the heretic's leg. Rising up, Kadotus' power fist found the traitor's chest to push it away with a hole burnt through its breast.

Turning from the body, Kadotus noted that the two ranged heretics had left in the fight to head into the bridge, therefore meaning that the remaining marine—

Kadotus was slammed onto the ship's deck, the feeling of pain ridging through his back as he knew the remaining heretic had tackled him to the ground, and was currently driving a knife through him. Attempting to spin around, Kadotus felt the marine's leg shove him back down to the floor. The pain was now spreading as Kadotus heard his power pack get punctured, the weight of his armor suddenly becoming heavier by the moment. Roaring, Kadotus threw back his head and threw his fists around the traitor's legs, the power fist crackling with spite as it crushed through the ceramite.

The heretic toppled from his back with a lack of balance, as Kadotus raised himself and stomped the fallen body into the floorboards. Drawing the blade from his back with a hiss of pain, the sergeant turned back to the marines that were now wrecking the bridge as the men inside died. Starting with a run, Kadotus came up behind the two, tossing the blade as he neared them, the blade settling on the traitor's back. As the startled traitor turned, Kadotus delivered a punch to drive both his arm and the blade through the fiend, collapsing it in a bloodied mess.

Turning to the last traitor, a shot of fire ricocheted off his helmet, throwing the marine backwards, the seal breaking under the force of the impact. Standing back up, he looked back at the chaos marine who suddenly stopped his rifle.

"Sergeant?" The marine suddenly spoke. Kadotus paused—he recognized the voice, it was Masoi! Had his brother fallen to chaos? "You're alive, thank the Warp!" Masoi removed his helmet to reveal the face that once was pure, only now corrupted with pockmarks and many scars.

"You've gone traitor, brother?" Kadotus asked coldly, staring down his brother.

"If you mean I've become loyal to those who serve in mankind's best interest, yes." Masoi said with a nod. "The Raiders have shown me the error of the Emperor, as well as our order itself." The fallen brother gazed upon the sergeant. "That we are all descendants of a man who sought to defy the will of the gods for his own personal gain is sickening—and that we ever served such a man makes me pray my brothers do not serve the same lord!"

"Brother," Kadotus breathed. "Silence. I will not have you mock the Emperor and survive." Raising his power fist, he glared at his traitorous brother. "For you, brother, I will give you the mercy of a quick death, not by the hands of a thousand Inquisitors."

"So you mock me for heresy whilst you serve a chapter controlled by heretics?" Masoi smiled. "And you operate under the will of a daemon?"

Kadotus had enough. He started running at his former brother, shoulder down as a shot cracked the pauldron, the other bolts skimming past his chestplate. A glancing shot pinged off his neck guard, the bolt reflecting along his face to create a bloody scar. Kadotus pulled his fist back and was bet as Masoi raised his arm in defense. The fist caught the arm and crushed it, the ceramite falling away in a mixture of blood and bone. Masoi kicked the sergeant away as he pulled a combat knife into his remaining hand, the wrecked arm hanging limp.

Kadotus caught himself, and was now a couple meters away from Masoi. He clenched his left hand to test his power fist, but no sparks would emerge from the weapon—it had run out of energy, and would need to be recharged. "Damn you!" He snarled at his fallen brother, dashing at him. He saw Masoi raise the blade to stab his neck, so he smacked it away as his spent power fist went over the brother's arm.

The knife dug into Kadotus' chest as the fallen marine was punched back, his neck twisting at a bad angle. Not willing to let the heretic have a chance at revival, the sergeant followed him down, fists beating until the brother's head was no more. With heavy gasps of air, Kadotus realized the knife had pierced one of his lungs. Pulling it out, he felt the organ repair as he gazed upon his brother's fallen corpse. He glared about the bridge, now a wreck of crewmembers and body parts. The psyker was still alive in his position, only his left shoulder was shot open, leaving him with a bloodied stub. Quickly stealing a scrap from a fallen crewmember, he patched the wound and made a note to grab some healing drugs for the psyker.

Turning back, he noticed a form moving about the bodies of the bridge. Upon closer inspection, he recognized the bloodied form of Niccalau dragging himself with a broken leg.

"Captain, the ship is still ours." He reported, gazing back upon the bodies around him. Of the heretics who were once his brothers.

"Ours?" The captain gasped. "You speak as if this was your ship! And now look at it—everyone's dead, and we've a psyker that will die within moments! We're better dead than—"

The boltgun spat a lone shot into the dying captain, his eyes wide with terror as his body dropped to the floor. "I will not have cowards who will not face their duty, captain. Your men gave their lives, and your seek to repay them with your pity?" He looked as the captain's body spasmed and went still. "Your service is done."

But suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Masoi's body started moving. Turning his recovered boltgun upon the corpse, he released the full clip into it, tearing it into shreds. It seemed to pass in an instant, but Kadotus was able to see what was happening to his once-brother's body—daemonic possession. The chaos marines all bore the soul of a daemon inside of them as their purchase to the Raiders, and so they were selected for this lone mission.

From behind him, Xiljuro screamed, alerting Kadotus with a raised bolter. But there was no foe, only the man curling his back in pain, the wires straining to hold the bloodied body inside. Running to a small compartment along a gore-splattered wall, Kadotus fetched a small injection needle, which he plunged into the body of the psyker.

With that, Xiljuro stopped his motion and died, instead of the needle's sedation effect. Scrambling for several seconds, Kadotus went to the remaining cogitators of the ship, trying to activate whatever he could that could save his life. Swearing an oath, he felt the ship suddenly shake. He knew that without the psyker, the ship could no transverse the Warp, therefore flinging the ship into real space. Kadotus felt heavier by the second, and was finally able to activate a cogitator that removed the vision field. And what he saw he didn't like.

* * *

The authorities of the planet Holvir, under the designation of the Knights of Steel, detected small sized craft entering above the atmosphere in from the Warp, bearing no communications and under grievous wounds. All attempts to recognize the vessel were unfounded and the planetary ground to air cannons fired upon the object with numerous hits, blowing the ship into pieces.

The remaining debris of the ship fell over the vast Ural Sea that covered a quarter of the hive world, and search crews were dispatched to find any evidence of the source. For the seven patrols that were sent, two did not return, most likely the case of the hurricane-strength winds that had been gathering in the area. As for any survivors of the vehicle, multiple corpses of humans and chaos space marines were found in the area. A large detachment of Knights of Steel battle brothers was sent to investigate for any further influence, as well as to dispose of the remains.

From above the planet, the Knights of Steel Second Company Battle Barge Blade of Avarice arrived, with slight breaches in Imperial protocol and the remaining marines of the chapter were brought onto the planet to rejoin their brothers in the halls of Holvir.

* * *

His armor slowly let the water drain from the multitude of cracks and crevices, as we stood up on the shore. His armor was now encased in seaweed and flotsam, encasing him in an image of the ocean men of Holvir lore.

He waited as his broken helmet found the strength able to listen to the Holvir vox channels, particularly into the facts of the second company's arrival at Holvir, and the changes in the crew from memory.

Kadotus knew where he had to go and what he had to do to recover his fallen brothers' honor. After scrambling the necessary supplies from a nearby village and repaired his power fist, the sergeant began his slow walk to where he would simultaneously damn and free himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Warhammer 40,000: Knights of Steel

By Alssadar

Chapter 5

Silence was all that came from the hall after the body of Masoi's pretender hit the floor, spirals of daemonic tentacles emerging from the corpse, at which Kadotus stomped out, and he felt satisfaction in defeating such an enemy to the Imperium. At the current moment, he had found and assassinated more than half of the members of the faked second company, many of their faces peeling away to reveal false faces and others sprouting daemonic possessions, like the fake Masoi's body.

Turning away from the bloodied corpse, he left the storage room to head to the cloister, and see if any fake brother was located there. But, suddenly, he heard the bells ringing, and the vox lit up with sound. The brothers of the keep were returning from their search uneventful. The hour had struck 14. The bodies of several mutilated brothers have been found. A surviving servant speaks of Sergeant Kadotus.

Kadotus swore as he remembered the boy he thought he had killed with the swift backhand. Now his brothers would turn their arms on him as if he was the traitor, not the heretics who had infiltrated their ranks.

He broke into a run as he entered the cloister, and who was there but the fake image of Captain Nage, who knelt in front of the Sword of the Knight—a steel-carved relic made in image of the Knights of Steel's foundation, forever gifted as their blessed icon.

And now the traitor was praying to his false gods in front of it. Walking out into the cobblestones of the cloister, Nage heard and stood up. The captain blinked his eyes in disbelief as he saw his brother.

"Sergeant! What...where...how?" Nage asked in his metallic rasp. He blinked his eyes a few time, as if a check of his reality and to play the part. "What is this on the vox I hear about you?"

Kadotus glared at the captain through his helmet. He said nothing.

"You speak no denial, my friend. Are these accusations true? Have you really turned traitor and killed your brothers?" Nage furrowed his brow and drew his power sword.

"They are no brothers of mine, pretender. They, like you, are mirages sent by the forces of chaos to destroy the chapter from within." Kadotus snarled. "I shall kill you all to redeem our company in the eyes of the Emperor."

Nage shook his head. "Brother—have you gone mad? Did the warp really take that effect on you—to corrupt you to your very soul?" The captain stared in disbelief.

"I am the only one truly sane, and the Emperor grants me the sight to see through the lies that your traitors permeate. Deny it all you want, heretic, you shall die today!" With that, Kadotus charged, boltgun spitting fire, as he had no need for stealth.

The captain's armor buckled as the shots hit but did no permanent damage, and Nage raised his sword in defense. The power sword struck first, a two handed swipe across Kadotus. Barely dodging the blow by leaning back, Kadotus sprang forward as the captain's slice continued its momentum. Tackling Nage to the ground, Kadotus managed a punch to his helmet before the fake captain threw him off with his feet.

Whilst trying to correct himself, Kadotus was suddenly charged by Nage, the power sword slicing across his pauldron and helmet, which disconnected one of the visors while causing the damage to block most of the other sighting. With a snarl, Kadotus backed up and removed his helmet, spitting at the captain.

"Your eyes are still red, brother. So the curse has taken hold of you." Nage said in his metallic clicking. There was a hint of sadness in his voice, but Kadotus knew the chaos marine was all in the act. There was never any note of red-eyed curse for the Knights of Steel.

"I trust the seers and the which not, you fiend, I crush them beneath my boot!" Kadotus rushed back at the captain, his fist ready for a return strike. Nage faked a left and hit right, but Kadotus had seen the plan in the captain's eyes moments before. A thrust was repelled as the power fist was knocked away, and Kadotus' quick jump was all that avoided his death.

Leaping on his feet, Kadotus lead with an uppercut that blocked by the sword, but the force carried by the massive gauntlet pushed the blade away. Momentarily distracted, Nage stumbled backwards. Kadotus knew the real Nage would not have fallen for such an obvious tactic with a basic defense.

"Admit to your corruption brother, and I shall give you trial before the elders!" Nage yelled before Kadotus sent the power fist after him. The captain tried to dodge, but his pauldron caught the blow, and Kadotus knew the captain's left arm was broken. Nage's doppelganger was sent spinning by the force, flung to the ground. Kadotus' boot stomped at the captain's remaining hand, but Nage rolled backwards to stand back up once again.

"What is the meaning of this!" A voice yelled from above. Sparing a brief look, he saw Chapter Master Furioso walking to the rim of the cloister, emerging from the massive spire that was the Knights of Steel's cathedral. From there, the chapter master was several stories above them, with a line of stairs leading down from both sides of the walkway. "Sergeant, explain yourself!" The chapter master yelled as the chief librarian and champion took position beside him. From behind the chapter master followed the veteran 1st company, their armor shining with radiance from their skill. And Kadotus' eyes picked up more movement from behind, as the fourth and seventh companies, who were sent as the search parties were returning from their watch.

"I'm purging the traitors and cleansing the ranks of heresy!" Kadotus yelled back, quickly stepping towards Nage.

"No!" Chief librarian, Illusum yelled, forcing out a psychic wave to stop the sergeant.

But it was too late. The force passed over him and Kadotus felt empowered as he resisted the psyker's force. The fake Nage, in his weakness, was affected, and barely had enough time to stretch his sword at Kadotus. Smacking the arm away with his right, Kadotus brought his power fist to crush the armor off at the elbow, whilst tackling the captain to the ground. From there, he gazed upon the captain's face, spying tears in his eyes. The sight reminded him of the weak man whom he gave benediction to in the bar of Canlyn.

"Brother..." The captain moaned.

"Traitor." Kadotus replied. The power fist raised and fell upon the captain's chest, splattering the cobblestones of the cloister with the fake captain's blood. The space marine gathered around the scene stared in shock of the event, as Kadotus breathed heavily. Slowly standing up, the sergeant pulled the captain's head from the body, showing them the tentacles where the captain's spine would normally have been.

"See, my brothers! This is what I mean to cleanse!" He pointed at the daemonic infestation, showing it to his fellow brothers of the chapter. "He was infested and tainted—killed and replaced by the vile Vehement Raiders!" He looked at his foot and noticed more tentacles emerging from the body. He punched the moving arm, removed it, and held it up for more evidence. He spun around to face the chapter master and his ilk, high above him. All he found was damning silence.

"Sergeant. Your eyes are corrupt. You are not fit to be one of us." Illusum spoke after several moments. "Your mind shall be cleansed to reveal the horrors you have done." The space marine's hands waved, and Kadotus felt a great pain upon his mind, much like the pain of his awakening in the warp. This pain continued for what seemed like hours until he collapsed onto the floor, his grisly trophies dropped from his hands.

His mind felt like it was stripped naked, flayed, and forced to walk through a sea of salt. It felt utterly broken and took Kadotus several minutes before he could see clearly, gazing back up at the masters of the chapter, who only stared down in disgust.

Puzzled, and confused, Kadotus turned to look back at the captain's remains. But now, instead of tentacles, was a spine. The arm no longer was possessed, only bearing the meaty flesh of what he had torn out. From the walls of the cloister, the bodies of the 2nd company were tossed out in front of him, no longer bearing false faces and their proper body parts.

The guilt suddenly weighed upon Kadotus. He was the one who was corrupt, and he was the weak one. He allowed himself to be tricked and now he had slain his brothers. He fell onto his knees, his eyes attempting to weep what did not exist. "What have I done?" He spoke into the silence.

"What have I done?" He questioned once more as Nage's blood crept into view. "What...have I done?" He intoned thrice, gazing up at the sky. Gray clouds lined the sky, and it was near close to raining.

"Sergeant Kadotus of the Second Company. You are hereby stripped of all titles and honors, and are forever damned to be a heretic and traitor for having given into the corrupt's schemes. You have slain your brothers and have allowed yourself to follow the will of daemons. Do you submit to His holy will?" Furioso spoke as the guilt struck heavily upon the sergeant, as he could still not believe what had transpired upon him.

Kadotus could not respond, and could only stare at the air above him. Suddenly, there were ripples in the clouds, and the raging blur of anti-air fire echoed from around the Knights of Steel bastion towards the black dots that were emerging from the gray. The marines around Kadotus spared a second to gaze up, and that was the last act many of them ever performed.

With a flash of light, three dozen chaos space marines appeared, over half of them as terminators. Their colors were an earthen brown lit with dull gray outlines, signifying their allegiance to the Vehement Raiders. A mighty assault cannon tore Chapter Master Furioso to shreds before he had a chance to activate his armor's personal shielding. The marines around him were reduced from combined flights of daemon fire and corrupted boltguns.

Of this, Kadotus paid no mind, only staring up at the dots that evaded the anti-aircraft fire to land around the bastion, spitting out squads of chaos space marines from their bulks. The companies of the Knights of Steel, unprepared and taken aback by the sudden turn of events, were massacred in the dozens, as the Raiders descended in massive numbers upon the complex.

As the screams of the dying Astartes finally stopped, Kadotus was aware that he hadn't been killed in the operation. He had been saved, because he knew he had delivered the Raiders to Holvir, and he is the reason the chapter was to fall. He suddenly felt eyes upon him, as he turned his head back to face the men around him. The marines of the Raiders stood victorious over the corpses of the fallen Knights of Steel, bearing only minimum losses.

The serenity of the stillness of death enveloped the cloister, until the broken body of Furioso was tossed down from the high level, the corpse falling down in front of Kadotus' mourning body. "Brothers! We have emerged victorious this day, all thanks to our little friend here!" A figure wearing terminator armor yelled from the upper level. The helm the figure had on was reminiscent of old-age iron helms, with a split visor from the eyes to the mouth, but was sheathed in darkness. "Give him your thanks for his assistance and continue on with your tasks! Burn what you seek and take whatever slaves you find, this world is ours for the burning!" The terminator raised his daemon sword and cast it at the cathedral of the Knights, far beyond Kadotus' sight, but he heard the sound of massively collapsing buildings.

Suddenly, there was a tap on his shoulder. Kadotus could hardly move to face whoever it was, so the figure moved around for him to see. The chaos marine was recognizable.

He wore the armor of a chaos marine, along with heavy robes that hung from his pauldrons and chest. The marine's helmet was horned, decorated in a shape to one of the chaos gods. In the traitor's hand was a staff, which he pointed at Kadotus, who recognized the heretic as a sorcerer. "Come with me, brother."

Kadotus had no other option. Taking hold of the sorcerer's staff, he was teleported away from his fallen chapter to serve a new lord now.

The lords of chaos.


End file.
